DAYS WITHOUT END

If an audiobook that is gorgeously written, tells a heart-thumping story, and is performed with flawless taste and authority is a cause for celebration, chill the champagne. Aiden Kelly gives us Thomas McNulty, a young refugee from Sligo orphaned by the Great Famine who has found his way to the America of the Indian Wars, the Civil War, and worlds of gore, mayhem, and transgression. And yet, his personal tale is of love, courage, and especially of the heroism of remaining morally intact through shattering trials. If the setting sounds familiar, the story is not, and you will not soon forget it, thanks to dazzling language and to a supple and powerful performance by Kelly, whose Thomas is somehow both pragmatic and full of wonder. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2017]